A New Comfort Zone
by skypenguine
Summary: There is a time in every girls life when she hits rock bottom and feels trapped. Only to rise to new heights. Or at least there was for me.
1. Hitting Rock Bottom and Rising Higher

Ginny was always a great friend to me. She accepted all my quirks and I accepted hers. We talked and hung out all the time, and then we got to school and that slowly changed.

First of all we were put in different houses, so friend time became very difficult. Then she made friends with a bunch of people that I didn't much like. They were very mean to me, yet Ginny didn't seem fazed when they hurt my feelings. She spent so much more time with them then me, we hung out less and less until she just stopped acknowledging completely.

That was the last straw. I went to her and told her flat out that she was being a horrible friend and how she had hurt me. But of coarse she was a completely different person then she use to be. She left and didn't say a word to me. Later that day, I over heard a group of people talking about me. So I hid myself and listened.

"So Ginny was just walking through the halls when that Luna girl just ran at her and started yelling at her about god knows what. Poor Ginny was cornered by that freak for about ten minutes before she could finally get away," said Pavarti Patil. _She is such a gossip._ "But any how, she came strait to me and told me all about it. Told me all about how they use to be good friends, but how Luna had gotten all weird and they drifted apart. "

"Oh that's so sad," said a bushy haired girl.

"But that's not even the half of it," raved Pavarti. "Well even though they haven't been friendly for a while, Ginny has continued to defend her from bullies. Like she got them to promise to leave her alone and everything. You know try to make Luna's time a bit easier. Then Luna go's off and tells Ginny that she is a crappy friend. Ginny was just lost for words."

"It's a shame when people drift apart, but to completely blow up at them for trying to help is just crazy," sighed the bush haired girl. "I don't normally like to judge people until I've met them, but this Luna girl really does sound Loony." Pavarti nodded with a somber look on her face, but a pleased look in her eyes about

They walked off in separate directions after a few more minutes off talking but I didn't hear what they said because I was so completely outraged at what I had over heard.

_That bitch! She had gone around and told a lie to the biggest gossip in the school that would get me hated by every one._

* * *

><p>The following day was the worst day of my life, and it spread on forever. I didn't look at people because they were all glaring at me. People teased me worse than ever before. It got so bad that I ended up in the Hospital wing quite a few times when students had pushed me on the stairs or else cursed me when my back was to them.<p>

Professor Dumbledore couldn't change the students minds about me, try as he did, and couldn't excuse me from my lessons so I wouldn't have to be near them, but he was kind enough to transfer me our of Ravenclaw Tower and into a small apartment room on the 5th floor and he told me where the kitchens were so I didn't have to endure my fellow classmates wrath during meal time.

It was a very lonely time for me. I spent most of my free time in my room. I did my homework so quickly though that I ha to find other ways of entertaining myself. With in a month, I had read so much from the school library, that I had self-taught myself everything I would be learning in my next three years at Hogwarts.

All of my teachers were extremely impressed. I became Professor Snape's favorite student, even above the students from Slytherin. After a while he started giving me private lessons once a week in order to further my skill in potions. In fact, by the time I graduated from Hogwarts, I had become the youngest witch (or wizard) ever to successfully brew the Wolfsbane Potion, beating the previous youngest by twenty years. The headmaster transferred me into some of the more advanced classes with the older students. And some of the other teachers began to give me private lessons, so as to teach me things outside the curriculum, after they heard such shockingly positive feedback from Snape.

And best of all I made some new friends. The older students didn't listen to the petty gossip of the younger students. They thought I was perfectly likeable and treated me no different than someone their own age. Life was looking up again for me.


	2. The UnSlytherinish Slytherin

It was a Hogsmeade weekend but I was still in the castle. Though my friends had begged me to come, I had just received a package from my father that morning at breakfast containing the ingredients I had requested for the Veritaserum Potion. I was so excited that I couldn't wait to get started. I ran to the dungeons with my cauldron, entered one of the practice rooms and began to work.

* * *

><p>He loved Hogsmeade weekends. He never went to Hogsmeade, mind you, but everyone else went and he could have the dungeons all to himself. The castle seemed more alive to him in these quiet times. The soul and spirit of the school had a chance to breath and radiate, and in this enthralling time, Terrance felt truly at peace with himself. The only other time he had eve felt this sort of calm was when he had been the Slytherin Seeker. He could feel the soul and spirit of the castle grounds then. He had felt connected with nature. Then that rich pretty boy Malfoy had bought his was into the team and Terrance had been booted off. The kid was horrible though; he didn't even know how to ride a broom properly. It was a huge insult to be replaced with trash like Malfoy. His friend Adrian had been even more outraged than he had been, if that was possible. He had to convince Adrian to stay on the team, as he had threatened to quit in protest, because that way Adrian could have the chance to possibly sabotage Malfoy so that Terrance could get back on the team. That was three years ago and Malfoy was still on the team and Adrian had graduated and it was Terrance's seventh year with out his sport and his best friend.<p>

He walked through the halls enjoying the quiet. It was nearly a perfect silence except for a distant bubbling sound. That sound interested Terrance quite a bit. The only time he had ever heard that sound was during potions class. But there were no classes today it was the weekend. And it couldn't be Professor Snape because he had told the Slytherin house that he would be out of the castle today and wouldn't be back until the dinner feast. He followed the bubbling with an extremely un-Slytherin curiosity that he had never experienced before.

When he got to the potions wing he saw that the practice room door was open a jar and could hear the bubbling coming from with in. He felt very foolish doing so, but he crept up to the door and peered through the gap. Inside the room he saw a little girl. She was quite small, but, strangely, had very nice curves. She had flawless blond hair that was pulled back into a loose pony tail and reached down to her knees. And she gave off a very radiant glow. He couldn't see her face, but thought she looked beautiful. That thought repulsed him though because clearly she must be a first year with how small she was. Then again, she could be older that he thought. Terrance couldn't really judge height fairly owing to how tall he was. At 6'3" he was easily a foot taller than most girls. But clearly this girl had to be older. You had to be in your seventh year to use the practice rooms and have Snape's permission to use then alone. But Terrance knew everyone in his year and none of them looked like this girl.

Just then the girl gracefully spun around and slipped a few ingredients into the cauldron. Terrance was in a shock to see that this was a forth year student. She was the girl who had advanced dramatically and with in a month learned three years of school by herself. He gasped when he saw how pretty she was from the front too. She had big sparkling blue eyes that looked both joyful and sad at the same time. Her skin looked like a China dolls, completely flawless and fair. He had never seen anything like her. But he couldn't gaze freely at her any more, for his gasp had been just loud enough to catch her attention and she was staring right at him.

Terrance froze where he stood. He wanted to run from the embracement of having been caught staring but his legs wouldn't move. He watched as the beautiful blond girl lifted her wand and waved it at the cauldron so that the entire potion making process froze, like it had been paused. He felt like he had been paused too, why else couldn't he move. Then the girl walked toward the door and pulled it open to look at him.

She was eye level with his chest and truly was tiny, fragile looking, yet strong at the same time.

"Is there any particular reason that you are spying on me," she asked? She had a very somber look about her now. As if she feared being hurt in some way. And that snapped him out of his stupor.

"I wasn't spying on you," he said, cursing the quaver in his voice. "I just looked in as I was passing."

"Oh. Is that so," she questioned doubtingly?

Terrance didn't say anything. He was bad liar and knew hi voice would give him away. He just nodded. There was a long silence before the girl spoke again.

"Well as it appears you are not in any hurry to get anywhere, as your haven't moved, would you like to come in? I know I'm capable of brewing this potion alone, but I wouldn't mind some company. It really is lonely with the castle so empty."

"What potion are you brewing?"

"I'm attempting the Veritaserum Potion."

If he hadn't had the pride to stop him self from doing so, his jaw would have hit the ground in shock. This girl was three years younger than him and there would be no way that he could brew that potion without at least ten years more of potions study. This girl was truly gifted if she could succeed at this challenge at the age of fourteen. He had to see this. So he agreed to come in and keep her company. He was having a very un-Slytherin day.


End file.
